NRC LETS PP&L; RESUME REFUELING OF NUCLEAR PLANT

AMINAH FRANKLIN, The Morning CallTHE MORNING CALL

After developing a strategy for correcting a series of fuel handling problems, Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. was given the go-ahead by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume refueling the Unit 1 reactor at its Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Luzerne County.

According to a company statement, PP&L; Nuclear Department officials met with the NRC at the agency's regional office in King of Prussia on Thursday to discuss the NRC's findings following an on-site inspection completed Nov. 9, and to review PP&L;'s plans to correct the problems.

Trouble began shortly after Unit 1 was shut down for routine refueling and maintenance Sept. 25.

Refueling was halted Oct. 28, the day after fuel handling equipment that carries 12-foot-long bundles of fuel struck the wall of the reactor vessel and was damaged. Also, motors powering the equipment were found to be malfunctioning.

The problems did not create a radiation threat to plant workers or the public, NRC officials said. Approximately 70,000 people live within a 10-mile radius of the plant, located about 16 miles from Wilkes-Barre.

The mast that carried radioactive bundles from the nuclear reactor to the cooling pool was replaced in part or whole 12 times in recent years, PP&L; officials said.

The commission received another complaint about Susquehanna's reactor last month. Two utility engineers, Donald Prevatte and David Lochbaum, asked for a review of what they say is a cooling system design flaw that could leave the reactor susceptible to a meltdown.

The engineers told the commission that while working as consultants at Susquehanna they discovered that when coolant is lost from the plant's spent-fuel pool, water in the pool could heat to boiling, triggering events that could lead to a meltdown.

But the strategy PP&L; presented to the NRC Thursday to improve refueling equipment, procedures and practices, convinced regulators that it's safe for PP&L; to resume refueling. Officials said they plan to begin doing so this weekend.

PP&L; has appointed a refueling floor manager to oversee operations, completed extensive repairs on the fuel-handling equipment, improved worker procedures for moving fuel, made additional training available for plant workers who move fuel and provided more engineering support for refueling.

"As a result of inspections by the company and the NRC, we have full understanding of why the problems occurred," said Herbert Woodeschick, special assistant to the president for PP&L;, in the statement. "The corrective actions we have taken will enable PP&L; to complete the Unit 1 refueling safely."

The company will also ask the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations to review Susquehanna's refueling programs, procedures and policies.

Woodeschick said Unit 1 should begin generating electricity again in about three weeks.

Findings of the NRC's two-week probe of the Susquehanna plant will be presented at a public meeting at 2 p.m. Monday at the Susquehanna Energy Information Center on Route 11 just north of the plant.